"Student organizations shouldn't have to beg for funding that was already approved."
Single-issue candidate: Student Organization Finance Reform
The System Doesn’t Work
Student Government approved funding for a charity event benefiting Camp Cole — a program that gives kids with disabilities and illnesses time to be kids. The organizers planned it, ran it, and served the kids it was meant to help. Then SG retroactively called the request fraudulent and cut off their funding. In a separate incident, $30,000 in student reimbursement requests were rejected overnight when the system crashed. A candidate had to hire an attorney after a campaign weaponized a false accusation during an election. These aren’t isolated failures. Students have already lawyered up because of SG’s dysfunction, and the university can’t keep letting student politicians create this kind of exposure with other people’s money. I served as treasurer. I saw this from inside. The system doesn’t need better people running it — it needs to be replaced.
One Platform, One Set of Rules
Students currently navigate five or more disconnected funding systems — general org funding, SOFAB, travel funding, event funding, reimbursements — each with different rules, different timelines, and different approval processes. A first-generation student running a new club shouldn’t need to learn five bureaucracies just to host an event. The organizations least equipped to navigate the maze are the ones most punished by it. All funding pathways should be unified into a single, modern platform with one set of rules and one point of contact.
Fund It or Don’t
When SG approves a fraction of what an organization requests, it doesn’t help — it forces the org to either cancel or front the difference out of pocket. Clubs have been left holding bills they were told would be covered. Partial funding is a political convenience that lets senators say they supported an org without actually giving it what it needs. If a request is worth funding, fund it. If it’s not, say so. Stop splitting the difference and calling it a compromise. I’ll vote for line-item based funding guidelines that evaluate each expense on its merits — not blanket percentage caps that slash budgets across the board regardless of what the money is actually for.
End Reimbursement-Only Funding
The reimbursement-only model forces student organizations to float thousands of dollars upfront and hope they get paid back. Many simply can’t. The Rocketry Club gets a purchasing card. Your org gets a reimbursement form and a four-month wait. Why? P-cards and project-based grants should be the default, not the exception. And approved funding should be binding — if SG signs off and lets an organization move forward, pulling the rug out after the event is over isn’t accountability. It’s a betrayal.
Professional Staff, Student Priorities
SG’s finance operation turns over every year. Volunteer staff juggle funding requests between classes and exams. Institutional memory resets every semester. When things go wrong — and they always go wrong — there’s no one left to hold accountable. The Department of Student Life should run the entire funding system with professional staff who don’t disappear during finals, don’t graduate in May, and can actually be held responsible. Students should shape funding priorities. Professionals should run the logistics. That’s how every peer institution that actually works does it.